Removable furniture upholstery



Dec. 6, 1949 E. s. WINBERG REMOVABLE FURNITURE UPI-IOLSTERY 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 8, 1945 INVENTOR. 1 0 lefw MAC! 1 Dec. 6, 1949 E. s. WINBERG 2,490,763

REMOVABLE FURNITURE UPHOLSTERY Filed Nov. 8, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VEN TOR.

BY 5A Z/m/Lu Deca 6, 194-9 E. s. WINBERG 2,490,763

REMOVABLE FURNITURE UPHOLS TERY Filed Nov. 8, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

BY 5; J 2/4/51 KJ k dw Patented Dec. 6, 1949 'U N lT ED STATES fr NT o rece REMOVABLE FURNITURE UPHQLSTERY Eric S. Winberg, Wakefield. Mass. Application'November 8, 1945,.SerialN0. 627,297

9' Claims; (Cl. 155 182) .This invention relates to furniture upholstery coveringsand ismore particularly concerned. with removable. upholstery coverings. which have the fit and appearance. of. non-removable upholstery coverings.

The usualv practice of upholstering so-called overstuffed furniture with permanent coverings involves substantialexpenditure for skilled labor, each covering being an individual job requiring the attention of a skilled upholsterer- While slip covers have been utilized as temporary coverings over permanently upholstered. furniture, they have not beenconsidered or accepted by the trade as substitutes for permanent upholstery but are treated as adjuncts to .or accessories for. the permanently covered furniture. This is: due sometimes to the original poor fit of a slip cover but more often to the tendency of known slip. covers to creep and ride with use so that the seams get out of line andcrink-les'andloesenesses occur from lack of permanent. fastening of the covering to the furniture. Use results in. the slip; covers becoming so out of shape as. to.- requirediscard before they have completed their useful: lifeso far as wear is concerned.

The present invention. provides a removable upholstery covering which retains indefinitely its original appearance so far as fit and shape are. concerned and in which. the. seams; particularly at the corners, are retained: in proper line, where:--

fit and appearanceof. permanent upholstery;

coverings.

The main. feature. of the upholstery coverings. off this invention is. the. provision in association. with certain portions of the sliprcover offstiffen ingv panels substantially coextensive. in. area with the area of certain fiat outer areas. of thelfurniture. In the preferred form, these panels ,arereceived in suitable internal pockets formed'inthe. slip cover. The panels act to maintain'face areas of the covering taut preventing creeping of th fabric or seams-from their intendedpos'iti'ons.

2. The panels thus effectively anchor the. covering without requiring actually tacking. or other means of fastening to thev frame along all. theseams.

' A typical slip cover construction in. accordance. with this invention and. its method of assembly with an overstuffed chair. is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1. shows atypical cover in. place on.a rep resentative type of overstuffed. chair;

Fig- 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along. the lines 2-2 of Fig. 1.;.

Fig. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;v I

Fig. 4 is, a perspectiveview of one of. the stiffeningv panels adapted to be seated in a pocket of the. slip cover;

Fig. 5 is a backviewof the. chair shown in. Fig. 1, with one of thefa stening devices inunfastened relation; I

Fig. 6 is an illustration of the slip cover with its parts in fitted relation, butomitting the chair construction, and with the seat portion in unfitted position for the purposes of clarity;

Fig. 7 is a. partial cross-sectional view taken along the lines 1-1 of Fig. 1

Fig. 8 is a perspective View of a panel appearing: as-a portion of the construction shown in; Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 isa partial sideelevation of thezslip cover shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of av panel utilized. in the area shown in the construction of Fig. 9;;

Fig. 11- is a detailof an attachment construc tion;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of another detail. element useful as for attachment;

Figs. 13 and 14 are details of a modified form' of attachment: construction; and

Fig. 15 is a sectional detail of the. attachment construction. utilizedin Fig. 3.

As shown in these drawings, aslip cover, as of fabric, is illustrated as cut and seamed for attachmentto a typical form of overstuffed chair wherein the slip cover has a portion 2E1 forming.

- the front of the seat: back, areas 2| forming theinside and upper armpo-rtions, areas 22 forming the. outer side arm. portions, areas 23 forming.-

thev side back portions, areas 2:4 forming the front arm portions, an apron portion 25, a seat cover portion 26 and a back portion 2?. As shown in Fig. 6, the inner arm portions 2 lhave rearwardly extending flaps 28 which, as shown in Figs. 5-

rear edges with snap fastenersil which cooperatev with a set of fasteners on chair frame 3! to anchor the panels 28 along a substantially straight line to the chair frame. As shown in Fig. 3, the inside arm covering areas 2i are also provided with downwardly extending portions which are formed into a hem 33 adapted to receive rigid angle irons 34 of the form and shape shown in detail in Fig. 12. Each of these angle irons is provided with one or more apertures 35 which when the iron is inserted in the hem 33 is in a position to overlie grommeted apertures 35 (Fig. 15) formed in the hem 33. The seat frame 31 of the chair is provided with downwardly extending pins 38 positioned in such relation that grommeted apertures 36 may be slipped over the pins 38 to anchor the side arm areas 2 l, in a straight line in a downward direction.

In its preferred form as shown, the slip cover is provided with a number of internal pockets adapted to receive relatively stiff backing panels.

In the form shown, these pockets are seven in number.

First, each front arm portion 24, as shown by Figs. 7 and 8, has a lining portion 40 which forms a pocket adapted to receive a panel 4| of substantially the contour illustrated in Fig. 8, being substantially coextensive in area with the fiat front areas of the furniture arms. This panel like the other panels to be described herein may be formed of sheet metal, fiberboard, plywood or any other relatively stiff or substantially rigid sheet material. Prior to the assembly of the slip cover on the chair, it may be slipped into the pocket formed by the lining 43 and the area 24 where it will be firmly held.

In a similar manner the outside armportions 22 are, as shown in Fig. 3, provided with lining portions 42, though in this case the lining is seamed at the top and bottom to panel 22 and the pocket is formed by leaving an opening at the rear, as shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 4 illustrates the shape of the side area panels 43, being substantially coextensive in area with the flat outside areas of the chair arms.

Again the side back portions 23 are provided internally with linings forming pockets open at the bottom adapted to receive panels 44 of the shape shown in Fig. 10.

Lastly, the back portion 2'], as shown in Fig. 2, is provided with a lining 45 also adapted to receive from the bottom a panel 46 as shown in Fig. 5. The seat cover 26 is, as shown in Fig. 6, free from inside arm covering portions 2! but is attached at the front to apron '25 so that it may be moved from the position shown in Fig. 2, and

backwardly under the back frame so that it may be drawn taut and anchored as by tying strands 50 around the chair frames at. In order to maintain the front portion of the seat cushion and apron in position the bottom edge of apron 25 may have a hem 5i enclosing an angle iron 52 of a form similar to the angle iron 34 of Fig. 12 and be anchored to pins 53 extending downwardly from the front crossframe of the chair. Again the seat back portion 23 may be anchored at its bottom by a similar expedient utilizing a hem 54 (Fig. 2) and enclosed angle iron 55, for which purpose the bottom crossframe of the back 56 likewise has suitable downwardly extending pins 51.

For ease in slipping the cover over the chair, the vertical seams attaching the back portion 2'! to the side portions 23 extend downwardly only a portion of the vertical height of the back area 21. The remaining lower edge portions of the back area are provided with suitable fastening elements such as the slide fasteners 60 cooperating with complemental fastening elements on the vertical rear edges of outside arm portions 22.

Figs. 13 and 14 illustrate an alternative method for anchoring the lower edges of the side arm areas 2 I. Here the seat frames 31 have as fastening elements a series of snap fasteners '10 instead of the downwardly extending pins 38. Above the fasteners 19 the seat frame is provided with a fixture which includes a plate H having a rolled bottom end 13. The plate hangs from a rod 14 held by brackets 15 aflixed to frame 31. The face of plate H adjacent frame 31 is provided with elements 16 adapted to cooperate with the element 1B. In this instance the hems 33 of areas 2! carry a dowel or other rod II which may be positioned in the rolled end portion 13 of the plate H and the plate 1| may then be hinged downwardly and snap fastened to the side frame 31.

This means of fastening may be utilized not only for anchoring the bottom edges of the inner arm areas 2| but also for fastening the apron 25 and the bottom edge of the portion 20.

With the constructiton as above described, it will be seen that every free edge portion of the slip cover is anchored in a straight line along its full width to the frame and substantially every corner seam is held in a straight line by one or more of the panels 4!, 43, 44, 46. An extremely snug non-creeping fit is thus attained which will not be aiiected by long use. Nevertheless, the slip cover may be removed from the chair in an instant for cleansing or replacement and each of the pairs of panels 4|, 43, 44 and the single panel 46 may be quickly removed from its respective pocket so that the slip cover may be cleaned or so that they may be inserted in a spare slip cover for replacement on the chair.

I claim:

1. A removable one-piece slip cover for furniture, said furniture having a seat, arms and a back and presenting a plurality of substantially fiat extensive areas to be covered with upholstery, said slip cover having joined portions adapted to cover said fiat areas and each of said portions having an internal pocket open at one edge and adapted to receive and to retain independently of the furniture frame a relatively still flat removable panel of an area substantially coextensive with the area of the furniture which the slip cover portion is adapted to cover.

2. A removable one-piece slip cover for furniture having a seat, arms and a back, and presenting a plurality of substantially flat extensive areas to be covered with upholstery, said slip cover having joined portions of area substantially coextensive with and adapted to cover said flat areas, a relatively stifi flat removable panel associated with each of said portions on the inner side thereof and retained thereby independently of the furniture frame, each of said panels being substantially coextensive in area with the area of the furniture which is to be covered with the slip cover portion with which it is associated.

3. A removable one-piece slip cover as claimed in claim 2, wherein said slip cover portions include portions adapted to cover front faces of said arms of said furniture.

4. A removable one-piece slip cover as claimed in claim 2, wherein said slip cover portions include portions adapted to cover side faces of the back of said furniture.

5. A removable one-piece slip cover as claimed in claim 2, wherein said slip cover portions include portions adapted to cover front faces of said arms and side faces of the back of said furniture.

6. A removable one-piece slip cover as claimed in claim 2, wherein said slip cover portions include portions adapted to cover outside faces of the arms of said furniture.

7. A removable one-piece slip cover as claimed in claim 2, wherein said slip cover portions include portions adapted to cover front faces of said arms, side faces of the back and outside faces of the arms of said furniture.

8. A removable one-piece slip cover as claimed in claim 2, wherein said slip cover portions include portions adapted to cover frontZfaces of said arms, side and rear faces .ofithe-back and outside faces of the arms of said -furniture.

9. A removable one-piece fabric 'slipicoyrgjfor furniture having a seat, arms and a" back and presenting a plurality of substantially flat ex? tensive areas to be covered with upholstery, including areas at the front and outside faces of said arms and at the sides and rear of said back, said slip cover having joined fabric portions 6 adapted to cover said fiat areas and each of said portions having an internal pocket open at one edge and adapted to receive and to retain independently of the furniture frame a relatively stiff fiat removable panel having an area substantially coextensive with the area of the furniture which the slip cover portion is adapted to cover.

ERIC S. WINBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,860,381 Cable May 31, 1932 1,934,615 Silverstone Nov. 7, 1933 2,107,087 Schlachta Feb. 1, 1936 2,086,640 Reynolds July 13, 1937 2,098,684 Fry Nov. 9, 1937 2,145,669 Thompson Jan. 31, 1939 2,334,966 Thompson Nov. 23, 1943 2,383.68? Saltz Aug. 28, 1945 

